Hey, guys! I hope you're all safe! I hope you're all sane! I hope you're all blessed with brilliant house companions and high speed internet! I am trying to stay positive because the world is fucking scary, and on with the chapter!

It took Clary about six napkins to clean her hands down properly, and then she went inside to use the tiny bathroom to wash her hands in soap and water to get rid of the last sluices of grease of her hands and from where they had dribbled onto her wrists. Jace just looked amused, only using one napkin to swipe over his hands a couple of times before dropping it onto the table next to their containers. Clary thought they might leave after they had eaten, but Jace just made himself comfortable, slinging one leg up onto the bench alongside him.

"That girl that you came to the tattoo parlor with the first time," he began, resting his arm on the top of the table. "Are you close?"

"Kaelie? Yeah," Clary nodded, a little surprised by the question. "Yeah, she's a good friend, one of my best friends."

"One of them?" Jace asked.

"Well, Simon is my best friend," Clary said. "Definitely my best friend."

"Tell me about him," Jace prompted and Clary frowned, jerking her head back a little, jutting out her chin. Jace just met her frown with a charming smile, as though this was a completely normal conversation for them to be having.

And maybe it was.

She did ask for a date after all.

"We...We've been friends for a long time," Clary began, a little slowly at first, because this just felt...Weird. "I've lived in the same place all my life—so has my brother, my father brought it shortly after he and mum got married—and Simon moved up the road just after I was born. My mum was never really...The mothering type and she didn't really have the patience to raise a kid—or kids, I guess, so I always had a nanny. My nanny and Simon's came from the same agency and they were friends and so we had a lot of playdates together," she pressed her lips together in a smirk. "It turned out that they were actually having an affair, and we were just an excuse for them to be able to fool around in work hours, but hey, we didn't mind, it's not like we had any idea. My mum and Elaine, that's Simon's mum, are also friends. Not super close, but they're still friends, and I think that us being friends helped keep them together as well."

"I know we come from totally different worlds," Jace shook his head and let out a laugh. "But the idea of you having a nanny just sounds...Like it's from a movie." Clary shrugged a shoulder, because that was just a normal life for her. "And Kaelie?" Jace asked.

"We met in school, at the end of freshman year," Clary said, twisting around on her side of the bench. "Her mum is...She's a social slut." Jace's eyes quirked at the comment, looking amused. "She sleeps with rich guys, marries some of them, really just in it for the money and power. She really loves Kaelie though, even if she's hardly ever around." Jace nodded slowly and he watched as she lifted her legs, tentatively stretching them out on the bench in front of her. It was almost comical, really, the way she settled her bare legs down carefully, as though she wasn't used to being in such a casual position. She wiggled around a little, swallowing hard and letting out a breath through her nose.

"Keep doing that," Jace noted quietly, looking out toward the beach, to the waves that were crashing down and the people who were playing on the sand.

"Doing what?" Clary asked.

"Breathing," Jace responded idly. "I think that you would be enjoying life a whole lot more if you take a breath every now and then." Clary narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that there was some type of insult laced in there, but she wasn't quite sure what it was or how to respond. Before she had figured it out, Jace was continuing. "What about your parents? Family? They around much?" Clary pursed her lips for a moment, feeling a little...Stunted by the question.

"Uh, I guess," Clary shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Jace pressed, now focusing completely on her, his head turned away from the beach and facing her. The wind was messing up his hair and his golden eyes were soft as they studied her. Clary licked her lips quickly before shrugging again.

"Sometimes," she repeated. "Not heaps, but sometimes. My brother was the one who was around, but he's been gone for a while now."

"Where?" Jace asked with a tilt of his head.

"I don't know," Clary made a face. "He's been gone for, like, five or six months now. I don't know what happened, because he was meant to stick around, or just go to university in the city, so he'd still be around," she sighed, her nose still scrunched up. "But..."

"But what?" Jace asked, looking almost...Concerned.

"But something happened. I know it did," Clary stated firmly. "I don't know what, and mum and father say nothing did, but I know it did, because Jon wouldn't just leave without telling me what was happening. I think he's in the Caribbean right now, on fathers yacht." Jace eyed her for a few moments, but he seemed to gather that she didn't want to talk about it, and he switched up the subject, talking about Alec and Magnus and Maia. He also mentioned someone called Isabelle, who was Alec's younger sister, and Raphael Santiago, and then Max Lightwood, although after he said the name Max, he clammed up a little and quickly moved on to the next person. Clary wanted to ask, but he had been respectful when she hadn't wanted to talk about Jonathan, so she didn't press.

His friends sounded so...Normal, when he spoke about them.

Maybe Magnus and Maia were normal, she had met them, and other than having a few more piercings and tattoos and being a bit louder and abrupt than most people she was used, but the others were part of the gang—club, as Jace corrected her. Maia's boyfriend was in the club and Magnus' boyfriend was in the club, but the others were a lot more involved.

She knew that Jace was making them just sound like friends and normal, but that didn't relieve the twist in her stomach.

She was nervous about tonight, even if she was trying to play off that she was fine.

"Let's head out of here," Jace said, standing up after a while, holding out a hand to her. Clary got up, taking his hand and letting him lead her back into the building. Jace took out his wallet and dropped a few notes on the counter, not bothering to talk to the girl behind the register, before they headed back out to where his bike was parked. Just like he had promised, the bike and her bag were completely untouched. As they were putting on their helmets, Jace looked her over. Not like he was checking her out, but more like he was critical of what she was wearing. "We'll need to get you some leathers. Can't go riding around in shit like that all the time," he stated, nodding at her shorts. Clary was thrown by the comment—surprised by Jace yet again in one day.

"As long as it's real leather, and none of that fake, tacky shit," she muttered as she buckled the helmet, not sure what else to say. Jace let out a short laugh, reaching out and stroking one thick finger lightly over the apple of her cheek.

"Trust me, sweet thing. None of this is fake leather," he said with a smirk. Clary wasn't sure what else to say, so she just got on the bike and they drove off. Back at Jace's house, they sat out on the balcony out the back which overlooked a big field which went on for a long way—she was guessing it stopped being his territory and became someone elses, but it was just so...Nice to be looking out and there being no city. No end. It was pretty. They watched TV for a bit, in a really domestic fashion that made Clary feel a bit weird, and then around six, she left to get ready.

Clary fixed her hair up and then changed into the strappy dress that she had brought when she was with Kaelie. It felt a little different, standing in a bathroom with full lights on, rather than the muted lights that showed in the dressing room, and especially different when she was going to go out like this. She wore short skirts and tiny tops a lot, but the way that this top dipped downward, edging toward her belly button and showing off a hell of a lot of cleavage, only held together with a few criss-crossing ties, it verged on the type of daring that she didn't usually do.

She had just finished painting her lips a dark red that was similar to the colour dress when the bathroom door was pushed open. She narrowed her eyes and was about to whip around and snap at him for just barging in—she could have been doing anything—but the way that Jace was looking at her stopped the words in her throat.

"Shit," Jace whistled out, shaking his head to the side, his eyes heated and his fingers clenching at his side. Clary swallowed hard, and even though she knew she looked good and she tried to look unbothered by his reaction to her, she felt a shiver run down her spine. She hadn't turned around like she had planned, so she looked at his reflection in the mirror that she had been using to apply her make up, and her fingers tightened around the tube of lipstick in her hand. "If we didn't have to make an appearance at this thing tonight, we would not be fucking leaving this house." He came forward until he was standing directly behind her, and behind the thin material of her dress, she could feel the roughness of the jeans he was wearing against her ass.

"Are you—" her voice came out with an embarrassing hitch in the middle, and she cleared her throat before beginning again. "Are you sure we need to go tonight?" She asked. Jace stared at her in the reflection for a few beats, and she could see the internal war going on through his eyes. Then he let out a sigh.

"Yeah," he muttered, one hand sliding down her pack, tugging at the end of one of her braids and then slipping down further until he was gripping her ass, firmly, and the pressure made her jolt forward. "Yeah, I said I'd show up. But..." he let out a groan and then leaned forward, and she felt his tongue touch the shell of her ear, and her body tensed, another shiver running through her. "But I'll definitely show you how much I appreciate this when we get back," he murmured, and his hand moved from her ass, to her stomach, and then to cup her between her legs through her dress. Clary was beginning to have trouble breathing and she was relieved when Jace stepped away.

This had the potential to be a long night.

I have a few TV recommendations few guys, since we've been inside doing almost nothing else for the past few weeks. Breeders is really funny in a total black comedy kind of way, although there's definitely a few things that hit a little close to home. And then there's Car Masters: Rust to Riches which is this car show where they take cars and do them up into something crazy. Me just writing that sounds bland as shit, and I never watch this shows! Haha. We never watch car shows or anything, but this one is just different, the whole group is just really entertaining. There's two seasons, so yeah, just check it out to see if it's your thing!

My top ten songs that I would recommend this time around are;

1) Smiling When I Die - Sasha Sloan. 2) Forever - Fletcher. 3) On - BTS. 4) Kissing Other People - Lennon Stella. 5) Pretend You're Missing Me - Betty Who. 6) Not In The Same Way - 5 Seconds of Summer. 7) Paper Hearts - Tori Kelly. 8) Cruel Intentions - Delacey and G-Eazy. 9) Ophelia - The Lumineers. 10) Highway To Heaven - NCT 127.

I hope you guys enjoyed the update! And the recommendations! I hope they provided a little bit of distraction in these...Weird times we're living in. Leave a comment, let me know what you thought of the update and please recommend songs and movies and TV series and whatever! I've heard from a few people that they've looked at other peoples recommendations and really enjoyed them, so it's not just me you're being a hero for right now! Haha.

Much love from me to you x

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